Unexpected Wedding Expenses Brides Forget

Think you’re on top of the wedding planning game when it comes to budgeting for your wedding? Many brides are caught off-guard with unexpected wedding expenses even when adhering strictly to their wedding budget. That’s because even if you’re armed to the teeth with the latest wedding organizing apps, and managed to list down every wedding detail you can think of, there’ll always be a few wedding related items that will somehow slip your attention.

Your Wedding Expenses Checklist VS Your Actual Wedding Expenses

Wedding expenses includes all purchases made in preparation for your wedding day, the day itself, and after the event. From the wedding save the date cards and wedding invitations, your wedding dress, wedding venue, wedding reception venue, wedding décor, gifts for bridesmaids and groomsman, wedding day photographer, down to your thank you notes and so on, all these should be considered as part of your wedding costs and should ideally be included in your budget. Aside from that, you should also allocate money for unforeseen expenses related to your wedding.

In this article, we’ll share with you some many minor wedding details that add up in terms of costs when they’re overlooked in your original wedding budget.

Pre-Wedding Day Expenses

Once you’ve set the date, there are medical considerations and requirements you’ll need to comply with before you’re issued a marriage license such as blood tests and paying for the marriage license fees.

Blood Tests

Most states do not require a blood test for couples planning to marry, but a handful still do. This is to clear and/or disclose any diseases, and incompatibilities. You may check this Chart for State Marriage License and Blood Test Requirements for your guidance. The site also says to check with your county clerk for updates since requirements do change.

Marriage License Fees

The cost of a marriage license differs from state to state and you can expect to pay between $10 to $115 or more, while some states require the same statewide fees. A Marriage license also has a required waiting period before it’s issued to you, so it’s a good idea to keep this in mind when setting the date of your wedding. Again, check with your county clerk or visit this site for more information regarding fees for marriage license, and the waiting period for issuance, by state.

Postage stamps

Your save the date cards, wedding invitations, and thank you notes won’t magically appear on your guests mailboxes. The funny thing about these seemingly small details is that they appear cheap per item but add them up and they comprise a sizeable chunk in your wedding budget, and fall right in the unexpected wedding expenses category!

For instance, if you’ve 150 names on your guest list whom you need to send 150 save the date cards at a cost of a $.49 postage stamp/card, that’s an affordable $73.50, right? Now triple that amount because you also need to send your wedding invitations, and you also need to send your thank you notes separately from each other. Now do the math. What looked like peanuts at $.49 becomes a whopping $220.50!

Common Unexpected Wedding Expenses On Your Wedding Day Itself

It’s every bride’s dream to have her wedding day go without a glitch or delays but you’re your wedding ceremony started late or when you’re having the time of your life, it’s no fun to abruptly end the wedding reception! Here’s where you need to pencil in your budget this additional expenses.

Paying The Officiant

As a rule, only the person who has been granted the power to make your union legal can officiate your marriage ceremony which can be a civil officiants, a judge or justice, or a member of the clergy. To avoid the embarrassment of paying too low for your officiant’s services, ask around for the standard rates ahead of your wedding day.

Overtime Costs

The most obvious vendor to charge you for running out of your allotted time is your wedding reception venue. Most wedding venues will offer an option to extend and will charge you by the hour after you’ve used up the number of hours booked. If you have your wedding in the morning or afternoon during peak wedding season, there’s also a likelihood that another party is booked after yours. To be safe, inquire about overtime costs and venue availability when booking a reservation.

Note:
The DJs, Photographers/videographers whom you’ve booked for a specific number of hours will also have to go on overtime and may require payment on the spot for them to continue.

Tipping On Your Wedding Day

You’ve booked the venue, paid the caterer, took care of transportation for you and your guests so there’s no reason to bring your wallet with you for those unexpected wedding expenses on your wedding day, right? As many married couples soon find out, tipping service providers such as limo drivers and DJs on the day of your wedding itself is common. This Wedding Tipping Guideline will give you an idea how much to tip service providers on your wedding day.

Cost of Wedding Favors

Just as with postage stamps, wedding thank you notes, and other small items, wedding favors can set you back a pretty penny if you don’t plan what favors to give for your guests. It’s common knowledge that these are the first items guests toss, but that only happens if the favors are generic and have no practical use. To prevent this from becoming another unexpected wedding expense, you may want to check affordable wedding favors couplesoncakes.com, or to further save on costs, go the DIY route!
After your wedding day and honeymoon, do send your thank you notes. Your wedding guests eagerly awaits this small missive! You might want to read a complete guide on how to write a proper wedding thank you note before sending yours out.

When coming up with a budget for your wedding, it’s safe to say you’d stay within the amount you’ve set aside for each item, but that’s easier said than done! We hope this article made you sit back and go over your wedding budget and factor in expenses that you’ve remembered just now. And if you’ve found this article useful, please share!CouplesOnCakes.com isn’t just about the most adorable wedding cake toppers and wedding accessories, we’re also about helping you keep all the bases covered when budgeting for your wedding expenses! For reasonably priced wedding accessories that won’t burn a hole in your pocket, visit us today!